The media has long since come under fire for supposedly being a bad influence upon the youth of today – going back to the days of fears that rock and roll music was corrupting teenagers, containing hidden messages and that violent films were creating serial killers. But it seems as though recently there has been another moral panic about the glamorisation of sex, drugs and violence in film.
James Bond
However before the most recent incarnation of Bond with Daniel Craig, the deaths often weren’t graphic; although they might have been horrible to think of, they weren’t gritty at all until Craig came onto the scene.
The only difference between James Bond and a serial murderer is that Bond’s kills are sanctioned, even legal thanks to his “license to kill”. The films also present an unrealistic approach to gambling, as for most people gambling is done at home, where fortunepalace.co.uk lets you compare sign up bonuses and you don’t have to wear a tuxedo. However he does still fit into what has become known as the “James Bond effect”, this kind of bad boy scenario where he doesn’t just kill but has sex, smokes and has a serious drinking addiction. The problem is that unlike a villain who meets his demise, Bond always comes out on top.
The Wolf of Wall Street
The most recent film to divide people along these lines was the 2013 Martin Scorsese film The Wolf of Wall Street, based on the autobiography of the corrupt stockbroker Jordan Belfort. Labelled “douche porn” by even its fans, it seems in some ways to glamourise excessive wealth and decadence, even at the expense of an entire country, and it definitely makes the character of Belfort seem cool and sexy. Belfort himself, however, has said that the film offers a constructive critique of greed and accurately portrays his downfall as well as something not to be emulated.
There is an undeniable attraction to the idea of the bad men, and films seem to have gone some way toward glamourising bad habits; whether in Mad Men, Goodfellas or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Let’s just hope the media-savvy generation of today are discerning enough to tell what’s a good film, and what’s a good lifestyle choice.
